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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573239">Human Beings? Being Human.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andovia212/pseuds/Andovia212'>Andovia212</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Family Feels, Family Issues, Family Reunions, Gen, Post-Episode: s06e20 The Future, Steven Universe Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Steven has Depression, Steven has an anxiety disorder, The boy finally has therapy, he meets his grandparents, oh hecc I'm bad at tags</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:48:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,416</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573239</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andovia212/pseuds/Andovia212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It was not the first thing on his mind when he started his road-trip. It was probably closer to the twelfth thing, really, but going across the state border shoved the idea to the forefront. This was his trip. His journey. And he had every right to meet some of the only blood relatives he had. So why does the entire thing feel like such a bad idea?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andy DeMayo &amp; Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Greg Universe &amp; Steven Universe, Steven Universe &amp; Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>334</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey, so, this is the first fic I've ever posted on here for some reason or another. I'm going to go ahead and say I am horrible with updating at decent times, but I have plenty of free time at the moment so if I can manage to focus then that won't be the case here! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                It had been on his mind since he’d crossed the state line. Everything had been the same as usual. He’d been listening to his collection of tapes that had expanded beyond the confines of his glove box (thank you thrift stores) and into an actual box in his passenger floorboard, driving about as cautious as always on the interstate, and losing track of the time and the miles as he explored. Then he’d noticed where he was, and it set his mind reeling.</p>
<p>                Steven turned off the radio to save his place as his fingers tapping on the wheel lost their beat and his thoughts wandered back to that house… and naturally to the wreck afterwards, but he had thought about crashing his dad’s van more than enough times that it was nothing truly new—even knowing he was driving closer to the area it happened in. He thought much more about the house… and the grandparents he’d never been given the chance to meet.</p>
<p>                He waited until he was at a rest stop before he pulled off and got his phone off its charger. He didn’t have to scroll much in his contacts before he found the right one and tapped it.</p>
<p>                One ring.</p>
<p>                Two rings.</p>
<p>                Thr-</p>
<p>                “Hello?”</p>
<p>                Steven could’ve sang from the wave of relief he hadn’t realized he would have at hearing his “uncle’s” voice. Instead, he kept it together and actually talked to him.</p>
<p>                “Hey, Uncle Andy. Hope I’m not interrupting anything?” He wanted to give Andy the chance to call him back if necessary. It seemed nobody had really been willing to do as much since his, ah, “meltdown” as it had been (accurately) referred to. It was admittedly nice in a way, and he had to remind himself to not feel guilty for receiving love in all the ways his therapist had been teaching him. He’d been so lucky to find a good match for a therapist on his first try, but Dr. Maheswaran had played a large role in that so it was no real surprise.</p>
<p>                “Busy? Nah, I just finished up a flying lesson, so I’m on break. What’s on your mind, there, kiddo?” Andy was about the only person he could really handle calling him that anymore.</p>
<p>                “Oh, y’know, I’m just at a rest stop and wanted to call and… ask a question…” The family leaving was sure to be a sensitive topic for Andy still, so Steven was a little worried if he might get mad again. He needed to know, though.</p>
<p>                “Well, course you can! What’s on your mind?”</p>
<p>                “I was wondering if you could tell me anything more about… when Dad left his parents’ house?” He tried not to be hesitant about it. If he was going to stop by… if he was going to meet his grandparents, he deserved to know what he was going into. Those unopened letters still sat in his mind like a heavy weight.</p>
<p>                Andy was quiet for a long moment. “Well, Steven, I don’t got much to tell you ‘sides what you already know. You know your dad was the first one of us to leave the area. Then a bunch of the others started going off on their own, too. They didn’t plan on chasing any dreams like Greg, but they had their own places they were going.”</p>
<p>                “Yeah, I know that. But I was meaning more of… more of what his parents were like. After he left. I’m… well, I’m not too far away from their house, and I guess they’re probably home so I wondered if I should… maybe… stop by?” It felt odd to say it aloud.</p>
<p>                Andy’s quick response surprised him. “Oh, Steven, that would be a great idea!”</p>
<p>                “What? Really?”</p>
<p>                “Well, sure!” Steven fidgeted some, conflicted.</p>
<p>                “But I mean… they haven’t spoken with Dad in over twenty years. They don’t even know I exist—would they believe me if I just walked up and said I was their grandson?” Andy laughed on the other line.</p>
<p>                “Kiddo, their son tore outta the house hoping to become some sorta big star. I bet they’ve been expecting grandkids for a long time now. Yeah, I’ll bet they’d be surprised to see you turn up, but they’re good people, Steven.”</p>
<p>                “When we were there before, though, they had all sorts of old letters from him put away in a drawer, and they never opened them. You don’t think they’d get mad?” He wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with any sort of confrontation of it which was why this was such a big decision. He would have at least a little extra time to deliberate on his own, though. He was not about to make such a choice without calling a few more people, and his therapist was likely to be with a client when he called which meant he’d leave a message and wait for her to call him back in a free moment. She’d had one session with him and decided he’d be a priority client of hers though he’d naturally insisted she didn’t need to do that. Dr. Perez had quickly pointed out he was once again not letting his needs be put first and added him to the priority list anyways. He’d initially not wanted to use up any of her time outside of office hours, but a few bad evenings and nights had him calling when he wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. She had reassured him enough that she was fine with it and would rather have him call and help him than something bad happen. She updated her schedule daily to include her emergency hours using a system of urgency she’d developed and explained. He would check the schedule once he finished his call with Andy.</p>
<p>                “Well, I’m sure they would be pretty upset with Greg for never bringing you around himself, but Stevo, whatever happened between your dad and his parents is between them, and it ain’t your job to fix it or to even worry about it. They’ll love ya for being a good kid and for bein’ their grandson.”</p>
<p>                Steven hesitated. “It’s just… I’ve never met any of my human family before except for you. And that circumstance was really different than this…”</p>
<p>                Andy held firm, though. “It’s up to you, Steven. But I think you should do it. Want me to come over there and go with you? It’d take me a couple hours after my last lesson, but I could make it alright.” Steven considered the offer before sighing.</p>
<p>                “No… No, if I do this, I think I need to do it by myself. Thanks, though, Uncle Andy. I’ll let you know how it goes if I go meet them, though, alright? I promise.”</p>
<p>                “Alright, then, Kiddo. Drive safe.”</p>
<p>                “Always. Thanks again.”</p>
<p>                “Anytime.”</p>
<p>                And with a tap of a button, he was alone with his thoughts again. What should he do? He knew his dad wouldn’t be happy if he met them, but this wasn’t a decision he could make based on how it would make others feel. He had a right to know his family… right?</p>
<p>                It was too early to call Connie and ask her opinion—she was still in school for the day—and he would rather not tell his dad until after the fact so that the decision would be his own. It was doubtful he’d even be awake either now that he had help at the car wash and didn’t live right outside the place like before. He went in and checked his therapist’s schedule. She’d just started up a meeting with a client and had one right after, but she always left herself a few extra minutes of downtime in between… This was something small that he figured would only take a couple of those extra minutes so with a little self-convincing, he called up the office and asked the secretary to leave a message as soon as she finished her meeting.</p>
<p>                With nothing else to do and a growling stomach from driving since he’d woken up around five or six, he shut the car off and went into the rest stop to fuel up in all the necessary ways while he waited. He ended up waiting in his car mostly, listening to music for a good half hour or so before his phone rang. He picked up immediately, though.</p>
<p>                “Hello?”</p>
<p>                “Hello, Steven. I got the message you had called. What can I help you with?” He should have really gotten therapy so much sooner than he did even just for the calmness he could manage just by being able to talk to someone who helped him understand himself so well. Someone who knew how to scientifically explain to him and reason with him that even when he was one of a kind, he wasn’t ever alone. Not in his feelings and not even in reality when he had so many people who cared for him as much as he cared for them. An outside perspective did a lot of good.</p>
<p>                “Yeah, it’s nothing major, though. I was just wondering what you thought of something… I’m about an hour away from where my grandparents live, and I… I’ve been debating if I should stop by and see them. Well… if I should stop by and <em>meet </em>them.” It was an important clarification to make, after all.</p>
<p>                She gave him the sort of answer he should’ve expected, really. “Do you want to meet them?”</p>
<p>                “Well… yeah. Yeah, I do want to meet them. It’s just I don’t know if I even should. They never even opened any of the letters Dad sent them back when he was touring, and he hasn’t seen them or talked to them since way before I was even born. I get that it’s not my fault, but I’ve only ever met one person from my human family and, well, let’s just say Uncle Andy was not at all happy with Dad when they first saw each other again.”</p>
<p>                Dr. Perez was quiet for a moment, almost definitely deliberating on what to tell him. “Well, Steven, do you feel you can manage the situation without too much stress if things were to not go smoothly? Do you feel well enough for the possible conversations that might occur with them?”</p>
<p>                “I think I am? I really don’t know what to expect from them. I never even knew they existed until a few months ago.” Another moment of consideration.</p>
<p>                “I believe you can handle it if you feel like you can. I would have not encouraged you to begin your journey if I hadn’t thought you ready to take care of yourself, of course, but some moments are more difficult than others as you’ve experienced. If you are unsure or feel you cannot currently handle it, well, you have a car. There will likely be other chances for you to try again another time, yes?” It was good he’d waited to be able to call her. She hadn’t told him what to do or even what she thought he should do. She’d just talked him through his own decision. He nodded a bit to himself.</p>
<p>                “Yeah… Yeah, that’s right. I can drive over there and change my mind if I need to… Thanks, Doc. Sorry for-“ He cut himself off before she could, as was common when he tried apologizing for asking for the help he still desperately needed. A quick reminder to himself that he deserved it. He deserved to be cared for. “Thanks. I’ll see you for our session in a couple days?” Thank the universe for video conferencing.</p>
<p>                “Of course. Let me know if you need anything before then, as always. I wish you the best, Steven. Drive safe and be sure to keep an eye on the weather. There’s a band of storms working its way across the country.” With another few words of goodbye, they hung up and Steven set his phone down for the moment, thinking. Driving to Showne wasn’t committing to meeting them. It was just driving to the same town as them.</p>
<p>                He picked his phone back up and sent a text to Connie saying what he was doing. He could tell the gems about it after the fact when he had all the details, but he’d rather let Connie know beforehand so she wouldn’t worry if he didn’t text back for a while or answer a call if he did meet them and spent a while with them. Once that had sent, he plugged his phone up again and got on the road once more. It took less time than he expected to get to Showne since the early morning rush had finished, but it took him a bit longer to find the house. He remembered what it looked like, but he hadn’t been paying the most attention to where his dad was driving when going through town. It was pretty small, though, so he recognized quick once he was in the right neighborhood.</p>
<p>                And then there it was.</p>
<p>                Steven parked along the curb, halfway between their house and that of the neighbors, staring at the building in front of him. There was a small gold car in the driveway that let him know someone was home, but that didn’t make it any easier to decide what to do. He checked his phone, expecting nothing yet from Connie and getting nothing. He wouldn’t expect anything for another few hours until she got her break between her classes and cram school at the earliest.</p>
<p>                This was his decision to make.</p>
<p>                …</p>
<p>                …</p>
<p>                …</p>
<p>                He pulled the car up to sit in front of his grandparents’ home directly and shut it off, put his phone in his pocket after turning it to vibrate, and he got out. He held onto his keys for the moment still as he walked around to the front path and towards the door. He wanted to meet them. If it went poorly, he was with no less family than he’d started with, and he was close enough to Beach City that he could always drive back and stay for a short while if it proved to be too hard for him to handle alone. If it went well… he would have more than two human family members. As someone who had grown up the vast majority of his life with only one other human, it was worth the risk.</p>
<p>                He knocked on the door, clutching his keys in his hand still.</p>
<p>                After a few moments, he heard some noises on the other side of the door before it opened inwards. It was obvious she was the woman from the photos—his dad’s mother—but the past thirty years or so since the photo were plenty obvious by the gray of her hair and the wrinkles in her skin. She’d gotten glasses during that time as well. She stood up straight, though, and carried herself with a stern air about her. “Can I help you?”</p>
<p>                Steven hesitated for a moment. All the worry about whether he should do it or not, and he hadn’t even thought of just what he’d say. “Uhh… Hi, Mrs. DeMayo. I’m… I just wanted to uh—” Oh no, he should’ve planned more. He should’ve asked for their names even. The woman—his <em>grandmother</em>—quirked an eyebrow at him. “I was passing through town, and I wanted to uh... introduce myself. I’m…” He swallowed at the lump in his throat. “I’m your—your grandson.”</p>
<p>                He didn’t have a clue of how she would react. She could not believe him. She could believe him and not care and shut the door in his face. She could-</p>
<p>                She looked at him confused for a long moment, glancing out to his car on the curb before her gaze returned to him though it took her longer to speak again. “Do you have proof of that?” It was an unexpected question, really, but she seemed to keep all emotion out of it as if she were holding her breath. At the request, Steven pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his photos for a moment before he turned it around and held it out towards her.</p>
<p>                “If a photo of me and my dad is enough? I could call him, too, if you want-“ He would really prefer not to tell his dad where he was until afterwards for the simple want to remain unbiased, but he hadn’t thought about needing to prove he was their grandson. She accepted his phone and looked at the picture for a long moment, glancing between him and the phone screen. It was a clear picture of the both of them about half a year prior. After a couple long, tense moments, she seemed to soften a bit.</p>
<p>                “Well, come on in, then. Whatever you’re hoping to tell me, you’d be best to tell Charles, too.” She passed his phone back to him and stepped into the house, telling him to shut the door behind him as she led the few steps inside and around into the living room. The house was still just as clean and lovely as the last time he’d seen it, but he focused more on anxiously following her. “Charlie, we’ve got a visitor. Put your paper down, you’ll want to hear this.”</p>
<p>                His grandfather was sat on the couch with a newspaper in his hands. His age was clear as well, and he’d lost the rest of his hair since the picture from before. Steven was surprised and a bit dismayed to see a walker resting beside him and a cast around his lower leg but focused more on his face as the paper was brought down slowly.</p>
<p>                “And who is this young man? You didn’t hire a local kid to mow again, did you, Ann? Because I told you I’ll-“ She interrupted him though it seemed that was a standard for them.</p>
<p>                “No, no, I know you want to be healed up before the grass gets too high. This isn’t about that. This is—” she paused and turned back to Steven. “I forgot to even ask. What’s your name?”</p>
<p>                “Ah, Steven… Steven Universe.” He wilted a bit as he said his last name, unsure of how either of them would react to it. It was his name, though, even when he might’ve wished he could’ve just been born a DeMayo at times.</p>
<p>                The reaction was not pleasant from either of them. His grandfather seemed to be incredibly angry after a moment of realization—by Steven’s appearance and last name, it was easy to piece together after all—before he leaned back into the couch and huffed in irritation. “So our boy really did make use of his time it seems, huh, Ann? I told you—I told you we just needed to drive out there and get him and bring him home before he went and messed things up for himself, and look—he probably went and messed up some young girl’s life and this kid’s, too, but you wouldn’t let me—you were so sure he’d be back and I told you it’d be with a kid or a—”</p>
<p>                It was not generally in Steven’s nature to interrupt, but he promptly did this time. He’d been anticipating some general hostility towards his dad with not all of it being unwarranted, but that didn’t mean he would let anyone speculate what had happened. Though it was almost… it could’ve almost been like when he met Uncle Andy for the first time.</p>
<p>                “Excuse me, Sir, but—but you’ve got it all wrong. My dad raised me on his own for most my life.” That seemed to shock the both of them for a moment, and the silence grew to be too much after a few moments of them staring at him. “When he met my- my mom, he stopped his tour. He cared more about her than touring, so he stayed in Beach City with her. They were together for three or four years before they decided to have me, but… my mom… well… she died having me, so he raised me on his own until some other family started to help.”</p>
<p>                He struggled to talk about his mother. It was such a sore subject and likely always would be, but it was touching on the most basic aspects of his past so he could handle it. He just had to breathe and keep calm and only talk about things he could manage to discuss. This was a lot for them to be learning about. They didn’t have to know just yet that their grandson was only half human.</p>
<p>                His words seemed to stun them into further silence more than anything as the looked at him and glanced between each other until Ann’s expression dropped suddenly and she made her way to the drawer Steven recognized as holding his dad’s letters. She pulled the stack from the drawer without a word and leafed through them for a moment until something seemed to click and she looked at him once more until she finally found her voice.</p>
<p>                “I… I always wondered why they stopped coming from all over the place… And why-“ She paused once more to set the stack down aside from the letter on the very top which she clutched at as she looked back at her husband. “I’m opening this one. It came so much later than all the rest… I <em>knew</em> we should have opened it.” Her voice was firm on the matter as she shuffled in the pen holder before she pulled out a letter opener and sliced through the envelope. Steven and Charles could both only watch as she laid down the envelope and immediately started reading the rather short letter, tears forming in her eyes as she made her way through it until she went to read it aloud.</p>
<p>“’Mom and Dad,</p>
<p>                I know it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. I wanted to tell you some great news, though. A few months ago, Rose and I decided to have a baby together. Today we found out she’s pregnant, and I know we’ve had our differences, but I’d love if you would come meet your grandchild when they are born. And you really will love Rose. She’s incredible and loves people. Just ask anyone in Beach City where to find me. The people here are great, and everyone knows each other. It’s a perfect place to raise our baby.</p>
<p>Hope to see you soon.</p>
<p> Greg.’”</p>
<p>                Steven watched in concern as Ann—as his grandmother—grew more distraught with each line she read, but before he could say anything, she looked past him at her husband.</p>
<p>                “Oh, Charlie… Charlie, we could’ve—”</p>
<p>                His grandfather leaned forward and dropped his newspaper about as hard as he could onto the coffee table. While it was relatively quiet of course, Steven still flinched back from it, trying to keep calm and follow everything he’d learned from therapy. He wasn’t in danger. He wasn’t being threatened. He was okay. Calm, calm, calm. He didn’t notice as Ann looked at him in concern when he flinched and seemed to space out, recognizing that sort of reaction. Charles spoke up then, though, angry and frustrated—about his son, Steven reminded himself.</p>
<p>                “We couldn’t have done a thing without it saying we approved of his career choice, and what sort of parents would we have been if we’d said we were okay with that, Ann? The boy ran off, didn’t appreciate a thing we did for him. Not how hard I worked to provide, not how hard you worked to teach him. Then he just throws it all away for some—some malarkey “dream” of his that probably never made him a cent?”</p>
<p>                It wasn’t his job to fix the relationship between his dad and his grandparents… but that was once again something he could dispute even if he voice was a bit weak at first in doing so, still trying to stay calm and remind himself he was in no danger. “He did make money, though…”</p>
<p>                “Pardon?”</p>
<p>                Steven swallowed hard before trying again, flinching again from the sharp tone and just continuing to talk himself through it. “He had this manager—Marty—who was a real piece of work, but the one thing he did manage is to sell one of Dad’s songs as a commercial jingle… he’ll never have to work another day in his life with how much money he made, but he still works two jobs anyways just because he wants to.”</p>
<p>                That got them both to pause again as Charles slowly sat back against the couch, stunned at that. It wasn’t but a few more tense seconds before Ann started crying, clutching the letter tight as they both were made to realize their “tough love” of not supporting their son’s dream… had only caused loneliness for all involved.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                It was close to an hour before the conversation could return to any semblance of “normal” with Ann and Charles sat on the couch together and Steven with a cup of coffee in the chair across from the couch. Once his grandparents (such a surreal word to use) had calmed down and everything settled more, they’d started asking Steven questions about himself to get to know him. He didn’t lie, but he didn’t tell the whole truth to them just yet either. He wasn’t sure what they’d think at finding out their grandson was technically half-alien, to use Andy’s original term, and while he didn’t care what most people thought of him being half-human… these were some of the only human relatives he had and while they would have to accept him for who he was at some point, that point didn’t have to be right away.</p>
<p>                So far he’d covered his age, said he’d been homeschooled (which was true for all intents and purposes, he just wasn’t schooled in most human things), and that he had a wonderful girlfriend who was working hard to get into college though he knew she would get accepted into any school she applied for. Though it was, of course, when the conversation turned a bit more uncomfortable once he’d brought up college.</p>
<p>                “Where do you plan on going?” Charles asked, seeming a bit amused by the starry-eyed look Steven tended to get when talking about Connie.</p>
<p>                “O-oh, uhm… Well, I’m not really looking into going to college right now… I haven’t really figured out what I want to do with my life yet.” The disappointment in their faces was obvious. He guessed they’d both been hoping he had a more structured path in mind than his dad had at his age. “But I’m working to figure it out now. There was a lot of really… really messed up stuff that happened because of my mom’s side of the family when I was growing up, so I didn’t have a lot of time to know who I am. So I’m driving around the country now to figure out where I want to settle down at. I need to find a place of my own.” He wasn’t sure how they would take all of that. He sounded so much like his dad, but it felt much different to him than his dad running away. He wasn’t running—he was exploring, and that was the difference that made everything.</p>
<p>                It seemed Charles was about to say something from frustration, but Ann interrupted him with a bit of concern on her face. “Messed up…?”</p>
<p>                Oh geez, how to go about this…? “Well, uhm…” He looked down at his cup, stirring it around with the small spoon a bit until he looked up and just decided to get it over with. It was as good of a time as any. “My- my mom and her family aren’t exactly—well, my mom <em>wasn’t</em> anyways—a human… They’re an alien race known as gems, and I’m half-gem and Rose was a really important gem but then she faked her death to get away from her abusive family but when she did that, everyone thought she was a war criminal and then six thousand years later she met my dad and decided to give up her physical form for me because I needed a gem to survive but the gems don’t understand how having kids works so I got blamed for everything she did and had to put an end to an intergalactic war that she started.”</p>
<p>                He tried his best not to rush through his words and to keep as calm as he could. He’d talked through all this before many times over with his therapist. He was not responsible for what Rose or Pink did. He felt the slightest bit of pink tint along his face, but it would probably pass for a strong blush as he worked to steady himself. There was nothing he could've said except the truth, really. If someone didn't want to accept him as he was, he doubted having them in his life would be good for him.</p>
<p>                It faded out slowly as he counted his breathing out and the couple across from him worked to process everything he’d just said. Charles gave a nervous chuckle of sorts when Steven opened his eyes again. “I knew all that space junk had gone to Greg’s head when he started calling himself Universe, but to go and get it in his kid's head—”</p>
<p>                Steven cut him off wordlessly this time, lifting the bottom of his shirt to reveal his gem. And before anymore doubts could be expressed, he set his cup down, dropped his shirt, and summoned his shield. He didn’t want to <em>scare</em> them—just to prove he was telling the truth and not just some story. His grandfather fell silent again as Steven let his shield dissolve once more. It seemed like minutes ticked by before either of them could say anything.</p>
<p>                “I… I see… So you…” Ann started before she trailed off again, trying to take the time to process it all. He didn’t mind to let them take the time they needed, reminding himself if things went wrong that he had people willing to help him through it and be there for him.</p>
<p>                As it stretched on for even longer, though, he decided to add to what he’d said. “No matter what she was and even when they knew nothing about each other’s pasts, Dad loved her with everything he had and even still does at times though she’s been gone for so long. He didn’t know all the things she’d be leaving for everyone else to deal with.” He still felt the need to defend his dad in at least a few respects without getting into their argument, and one of those was that it was never his dad’s fault that Rose kept so many secrets. Sure, he’d decided to have a child with someone he barely actually knew, but… well, he was young and was allowed to make some dumb decisions. Since talking it out fully with Connie and his therapist, he’d been hardly anything but embarrassed about proposing to her on such a whim and with so little planning. While he would certainly reuse the idea of the glow bracelet one day well into the future when he proposed again (after plenty of discussion to make sure it was what they both wanted and were ready for), he had often wished he hadn’t done it.</p>
<p>                They remained quiet still as they seemed to be processing it all. After a few tense minutes ticked by, Steven just stood up. He couldn’t handle it anymore at the moment. “I understand it’s a lot at once… I don’t have to leave town for a few days, so… could I come by another time? To see you?” This was it. The make or break question, at least for this moment.</p>
<p>                Ann slowly started to nod before it grew stronger, firmer as she grew more sure of herself. “Yes- yes, of course you can- I’m sorry, we’re really not usually like this… How’s about you come by for dinner, hm?”</p>
<p>                “Would dinner tomorrow be alright? I heard it’s meatloaf?” he suggested, smiling awkwardly and shrugging a bit.</p>
<p>                She nodded again. “Tomorrow would be wonderful. Dinner’s served at six o’clock sharp.” She stood as well, somewhat unsteady, and led the way to the front door to let him out. She waited at the door until he was at his car before she waved and closed it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                       </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Confrontation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                Steven drove himself to the nearest supermarket parking lot before he let it all wash over him fully. He did end up turning pink from just how <em>much</em> there was, but he kept his eyes closed, his forehead rested against the steering wheel, and he talked himself through it steadily. They wanted him back or at the very least were willing to have him back again, and he’d been sure to plan it with enough time for all of them to get used to the idea some more. He had quite a few people to call about all this, but for the moment he took the time he needed for himself.</p><p>                Once he had his thoughts together a bit more, he sat upright and got his phone back out and checked for messages. Everyone was still just as busy since he hadn’t been there for <em>that</em> long, so he wouldn’t have been surprised to no messages… but it wasn’t truly a surprise that there was a text from Garnet waiting either. He unlocked his phone and opened it, noticing it was from about when he went inside and read as a simple, “<em>Good luck. You’re going to be fine</em>,” as an encouragement. She hadn’t said much in the way of his future possibilities on the trip for many reasons, most important of which being he’d asked her not to even if she looked, but he knew there were some things she just couldn’t help but see whether she went looking or not.</p><p>                He tapped a quick, “<em>Thanks, I’ll tell you about it later</em>,” in response before he went to his contacts and tapped the one he was somewhat dreading. He needed to get the conversation done with, though. Might as well get it all out now instead of worrying over it more and more.</p><p>                His dad picked up, and Steven struggled to stay calm. The excitement in his dad’s voice wasn’t about to make this conversation any easier. “Hey, Schtu-ball. How’s it goin?” It had been a few days since they’d called and talked to each other, so the question was a good one to blanket whatever the conversation topic might be.</p><p>                “Hey, Dad. What are you up?” He hoped his dad would ignore the fact that Steven had definitely not answered the question he was asked, but he’d get there. Oh would he be getting there really soon.</p><p>                “Nothing much at the moment. I was just looking over some of the plans for Sadie and Shep’s album. I’ve gotta send you their cover artwork—it looks incredible! They commissioned a friend of Shep’s that lives in Empire, real close to Empire City actually, and it turned out great.” While normally he’d be happy to hear his dad was having a good time and keeping himself busy, it really was not going to make it easier to ruin his good mood. Steven had to remind himself that putting it off would be even worse. “But what about you? Where are you at? Whatcha been doing this week?”</p><p>                It had to happen. It <em>had</em> to happen. It was good of a time as any to make it happen.</p><p>                “Oh, you know, mostly driving. Nothing really outside of the pictures I’ve sent you.” He took a deep breath and let it out as slow and steady as he could, his pause evident enough that his dad waited for more. “I’m actually in Showne right now.”</p><p>                The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening, and he could feel his anxiety levels shooting up the longer it went on for. It may have not even been a full minute, but it definitely felt more like an hour.</p><p>                “Yeah? How’s that?” There really wasn’t much else to say, and Steven could gather nothing from his dad’s tone.</p><p>                “It’s been fine. I just got here a few hours ago, and… I’m sorry, I probably should’ve asked first but didn’t want to be biased or anything, so… I met them. My grandparents.” There was a small sigh on the other end.</p><p>                “Well, I figured you might decide to. You don’t have to apologize, Steven… How did it go?” It was obvious his dad wasn’t saying everything on his mind but wanted to be supportive. Considering it was something everyone who had raised him tended to do, it was no wonder that Steven had done the same his whole life. But it was getting better.</p><p>                “Please talk to me about it, Dad… I want to know if you’re upset.”</p><p>                Another sigh. “Well, I can’t say I’m happy about it, but that’s more towards them than you, Steven. I…” He paused again, and it took everything Steven had to keep from getting even more anxious in the dead spaces. They had discussed that trip multiple times before, and he’d helped his dad to understand all the reasons it upset him. And he had the time to calm down enough to understand his dad’s perspective as well. Neither of them were right in that situation. He just had to remember that. “I know you said they never opened the letters, so that means they never knew about you, but I raised you believing that they <em>did</em> know and just didn’t want to be in your life. The older you got, the greater the person I saw you grow to be. And I… guess I started to think somewhere down the line that if they didn’t want us, they didn’t deserve us anyways. That they didn’t deserve to get to know such a wonderful person. I never thought about the fact that <em>you </em>deserved the chance to have <em>them</em>.”</p><p>                Steven let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding and lessened his grip on his phone. He wasn’t sure if he was pink again or not, but he worked on counting himself through his breaths as he processed his dad’s words. Similar ones had been said before, but the last part seemed like an epiphany being realized right then and there.</p><p>                His dad spoke again after another moment of the both of them thinking. “If you want to meet them, it’s all your choice, Schtu-ball. I… I won’t be upset with you. If you want them in your life, you deserve to have them. To have more family and even more people to love you.”</p><p>                Well, shoot. The hard part, then. He couldn’t get his voice above the weak level it was at. Sure, his dad was saying he would accept it and that it was Steven’s decision, but he was positive that his dad would be upset that he’d already- “I, uhm… I actually kind of already did…? It was too early to call you still but I called and talked to Uncle Andy about it first and then to Dr. Perez and I know I should’ve called you and I’m sorry I didn’t since it was unfair to you—I’m sorry.” Somewhere along the line, he had sped up to be rambling, too anxious at the moment to remind himself that it wasn’t a circumstance to apologize in. But that was where one’s support system came in. That was where the long months and months of intense personal therapy and of family therapy and being made to rely on others when he couldn’t do it all on his own came in. When he slipped up, they were there to catch him and help him back up, and they’d all been doing oh so good at it.</p><p>Being raised by four parental figures had meant Steven had grown up with an inordinately large amount of love, even when everyone had their shortcomings. That paired with how he’d been able to make friends with anybody and everybody when he was young meant he had continued to experience love everywhere in his life, and he was fortunate for it. But never had he felt more love than during those first months after his meltdown. Not that he had wanted to accept it, and even when he did want it, he still struggled with it as he dealt with an unending battle of trying to learn how to love himself again. How to <em>let</em> him love himself and let others love him. But they were there for him always.</p><p>                “Oh… well, it’s not like you needed my permission, Schtu-ball. How was it?” A little disappointment but more surprise than anything. And far easier to deal with than Steven had expected. So much so that he needed a moment to jostle himself to even respond to it.</p><p>                “It.. went… good?” Deep breath. Count it out. One. Two. Three. Four. One. Two. Three. Four. Start again. “It went alright. About as well as it could’ve gone, I think. Your- uh.. my- uhm… Ann asked if I had any proof I was your kid, so I showed her a picture and she believed it.” He was so unsure of what to call them still. “Mr. and Mrs. DeMayo” was like he was speaking to complete strangers (and while they technically were, they were related very directly as well). Referring to them as “your parents” felt like he was saying his dad’s bad experiences didn’t matter, but “my grandparents” was far too personal for comfort. Calling them “Ann and Charles” didn’t feel quite right either, but it was the best option for the time being.</p><p>                His dad chuckled, almost humorless. “Yeah, that sounds like her alright… She believed you, though, so that’s what matters, right?” Steven could tell his dad was trying to be civil about his own parents… and it was genuinely appreciated even though he might as well have been outright begging for Steven to take the lead in the conversation.</p><p>                He took a minute to compose himself before doing just that. “Yeah, it is. They, uhm… they seem a lot like Uncle Andy but I guess a bit more upset still? I guess they mainly had us talking about me… I told them I’m half-gem, and I left pretty soon after that. They needed to process it, and I couldn’t handle it any longer. But I’m going back to join them for dinner tomorrow…? Unless it’s bad, I should be able to stand it long enough then. I spent too much time worrying about it this morning.” It was hardly past noon—how was he supposed to do anything productive the rest of the day?</p><p>                Well… then again… he didn’t really <em>have</em> to. It was one of those moments to remind himself he was on his own schedule, and while he tried his best to do at least one productive and one interesting thing each day to keep from getting into a rut or a funk, he had already done just that. He did need to choose if he would be renting a hotel room while he was in town, though.</p><p>                “They definitely know how to be a lot to handle… What’d they say about you being half-gem?” He could hear something in his dad’s voice with that question that he didn’t often hear. It took a moment to recognize because he hadn’t heard it much since he was a child except for off and on throughout his first months of therapy. He never would’ve guessed his dad’s own parents would cause him to sound so <em>protective</em> of Steven. Especially when he was almost an adult and actually in a somewhat decent mental state.</p><p>                He had to actually think about the question, though. “Well… at first, they thought I was lying, but then I showed them my gem and my shield, and that got them to believe me. Besides that, though, I think they were kind of mostly surprised? They didn’t say much before I left, but they invited me back.” Or… wait, had they invited him? Or had he invited himself? He couldn’t remember for sure, having been so drained and panicked by the conversation.</p><p>                Well, gee, <em>that</em> sure didn’t make him nervous or anything now.</p><p>                He missed his dad muttering something about meatloaf but focused again now that he needed to. “-ways, I think maybe break it to them slowly like we’ve done with Andy.” Continued to do with Uncle Andy considering any of the times he missed large events, they usually took a little while before they could explain to him what had happened, if it was even relevant to tell him. It had taken a couple months before they were able to tell him about Steven’s corruption. He stayed out of gem stuff besides teaching his lessons for Little Homeschool, but he was kept at least somewhat in the loop on “Steven stuff.” “You should only tell them as much as you’re comfortable with, of course, but if you do tell them more… I just don’t want you getting hurt, Schtu-ball.” His dad was rambling by this point, but it was something Steven found himself appreciating anyways.</p><p>                “Yeah, I’ll definitely teach them the same way we’ve taught Uncle Andy. No human deserves to be thrown head-first into all that chaos. Don’t worry—I’ll be careful, Dad.” It still didn’t feel entirely resolved between them, but he could tell the conversation was at a close for the moment. They’d have to be sure to bring it up another time and fully discuss it, but it would maybe be better-suited to happen in person or when Steven was no longer in Showne.</p><p>                From there, the phone call was minimal before his dad had to leave to go help at the car wash. At the very least, he assured Steven at least six times that he loved him and was right for making his own decision in the matter. It didn’t mean he was any less stressed when he said bye to his dad and hung up the phone, and really, the rest of the day after that was a subdued version of his usual until Connie found the time to teleport over to him that evening to eat dinner with him. The hour or so she was there was wonderful, and while he was admittedly sad to see her go, she made sure he was settled comfortably in his hotel room for the night before she left (and Lion had given him a borderline-gross amount of licks).</p><p> </p><p>                The next day was spent trying to just calm down and stay that way while he waited for dinnertime to approach. It would’ve been nice for him to go around and explore the town, but he could still get a chance to do that after he wasn’t so keyed up. If he wanted to considering he wasn’t too keen on the idea yet. He wouldn’t settle down in Showne. He already knew he wouldn’t from the feel of the town and because it wouldn’t be <em>his</em> place in the world. It was his dad’s childhood one, and it was already tainted with just more trauma from the wreck and the way he’d found out about his human family. Okay, so it was not a good mental health day, but that was fine. Hell, the bad days and not-so-good days were getting fewer with every passing month as he learned to cope with everything better. It was still a struggle most days, but he was re-learning how to enjoy life as slowly and surely as it needed to happen. One bad thing or thought during the day didn't always mess up the entire day anymore. Still, he steeled himself around five, stopped by the store to get some rolls to bring (since he had no clue what he could cook to go with meatloaf and cooking was a lot of set-up he lacked the energy for anyways), and headed over to the DeMayo residence once more.</p><p>                Ann opened the door for him again which wasn’t a surprise considering Charles’s injury and thanked him for the rolls even if she seemed oddly hesitant about it. She was warmer to him than the last time he’d opened the door, but it wasn’t what he would call affectionate in any sense of the word. Which made sense—they’d still only met the day before.</p><p>                “Evening, Steven. How’s your day been?” Polite, “nice weather” conversation. That was manageable, even on a bad day when he was so anxious he was having trouble keeping his hands steady. He could handle this.</p><p>                “It’s been fine- yours?” He was lying, he was lying, he was- stop. It was a fib, and it was to someone he barely knew. He’d already texted Connie and asked if he could call her once he left his grandparents’ house, and he’d called Amethyst earlier in the day to chat and let her try to calm him down (since Pearl might’ve worried about him too much to make him more anxious and Garnet wasn’t the best on the phone when half the conversation happened in her head—it was better to text her). It had worked for a little while, to Amethyst’s credit. He was allowed to fib somewhat to someone who was practically a stranger. He followed her into the kitchen where she had been working on peeling potatoes.</p><p>                “Oh, just the same as always, you know.” Ann paused for a moment, seeming to consider. “Or I guess you probably don’t know since you’re on the road all the time, do you?” That was… a bit odd. And presumptuous.</p><p>                “Ah, w-well, the roads tend to blend together, but I try to make each day unique somehow. Monotony is a bit too tedious for me…” He was fine. He could keep himself together and keep calm. He took the seat across from her as she started peeling potatoes again. At least she smiled somewhat.</p><p>                “You’ve got quite a good vocabulary going on there.” O…kay? Why did it feel so… unbearably awkward? Was she just trying to get to know him or was something else going on?”</p><p>                “Oh, uh, thanks… Do you need any help with that?” The damn words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Old habits die hard, but it was at least a very simple task.</p><p>                Ann shook her head, concentrated on her task. “Oh, I’ll be just fine peeling them though I might have you mash them. My arms get tired. You go on ahead and say hello to Charles then, hm?” Oooookaaaaay? He was beyond confused by why everything felt so… off, but he nodded and got back up to go to the living room.</p><p>                Charles was in about the same spot as the day before, injured leg still propped up and a newspaper in his hand. It looked like the same one from the day before, so Steven wondered if he hadn’t finished it or was reading it again. “Ah… hello….” He still had no clue what to call either of them to their faces, so his voice trailed off. His hands were starting to shake now despite his best efforts, his thoughts racing through ideas of why they were acting so… bizarre? No, that wasn’t the word. It was like… it was almost like he wasn’t even there. Like they had to continue their daily routine as if it were sacred, and even having a guest over was not about to change that. It was disorienting and made him feel incredibly out of place.</p><p>                At least Charles looked up from his paper. “Evening, Steven. Come on in.” With a little hesitance, Steven took up his seat from the day before. “I’m glad you’re here early—I wanted to talk to you about something.” Okay, that felt a little less awkward than Ann being… distant?</p><p>                “Yeah, of course.” That being said, he had zero ideas as to where this would be going.</p><p>                Charles set his paper down and carefully turned to look at him a bit better, and it crossed Steven’s mind then that he should ask Charles if he wanted to be healed. He wasn’t sure how well it would work when he was so anxious (his hands were still shaking), but he could probably do it another day instead or after dinner if he was able to calm down by then. “Now then. You said yesterday you had some- what was it? ‘Screwed up’ or somethin’? Anywho, you went through some bad stuff on account of your mother’s family, right?” <em>Shit</em>, where was this going.</p><p>                “Uhm… I mean, technically? Not her whole family, though. The gems—Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl—helped my dad raise me, and they were like her family, too. It was her original family that… weren’t exactly good people. But even they’ve changed now, and they’re working on getting better all the time…” Shut up, shut up, shut up, <em>shut up</em>, he was <em>rambling</em>. He didn’t want to talk about this with them. He wanted this to be a human sort of experience, not for gem stuff to be brought in and mess him up when he just wanted to have dinner with his grandparents and get to know them even a little bit. He didn’t want-</p><p>                “I see, I see… and they agreed with him about you going on this trip?”</p><p>                That… that felt like more of a U-turn than a left turn within the conversation.</p><p>                “Uh… I mean, yeah? They all understand it’s what I need.” He watched as Charles nodded slowly, almost to himself. He took a moment. Where was this heading? What was he going to say? Was Steven glowing? He wasn’t sure—he hoped, oh how he <em>hoped</em>, that he wasn’t glowing-</p><p>                “Well… see- Ann and I talked, and we’re not sure that it<em> is</em> what you need.”</p><p>                His brain shut off at that as he took a long moment to process it. Too long because it gave Charles a chance to start talking more.</p><p>                “You’ve had all this crazy stuff happen all your life, but did that boy ever send you to school? Did he ever give you a home or- or provide all your needs? We just… well, Ann and I- well, no,<em> I</em>— ‘cause Ann didn’t think I should say nothing—think if you’ve been through the ringer that no road trip is going to be calm and structured enough to set you up for your future, and I wanted to offer you the boy’s old room. We could get you enrolled in school and caught up anywhere you need it and we could start a college fund-“</p><p>                Steven had to stop him. His brain had finally caught up and processed what was even happening, and he was trying not to be mad about it. Especially about the insinuations that his dad wasn’t a good father and that he kept being referred to as “they boy” when his dad was in his <em>forties</em>. He promptly started shaking his head.</p><p>                “I appreciate the offer, Sir, but no. I know what I need, and this is it. I’m not going to high school, and if I ever go to college, it will be my choice alone. And I don’t like you suggesting my dad ever did a bad job of raising me.” Stay calm. Talk about it. No raising of voices. No going pink. “We may not have had a lot, but we had enough to be happy. Dad and the gems made sure I always had what I needed to be happy and healthy. Heck, they built my house by hand. Just for me. Dad still lived in the van even after I moved in the gems because it wasn’t safe for him to live at the Temple, but knew I needed to live with the gems if I was ever going to control my powers.” It felt like he said too much again, but he was… he was honestly offended by the statements. His childhood (mainly the past few years, really) had been one full of danger and trauma, yes. But it had also been full of smiles and laughter and love. Part of him did still wish he could’ve had a normal childhood… but he’d been coming to terms (with the help of his therapist, obviously) with the fact that the moment he was born as Rose Quartz’s son, the moment he inherited the Pink Diamond gem, he was never going to be normal. That was no choice of his, and thinking of that impossible normalcy hurt him more than anything. It was something he had to let go of.</p><p>                Charles’s face dropped and turned into aggravation the longer Steven went on. It seeped into his voice enough that, without realizing it, Steven’s face started flushing pink. Gem-pink, not blush-pink. “Ain’t nobody happy with a childhood like that, but you’re still a kid. There’s still time you could use to make up for all of that.”</p><p>                Calm, calm, calm, stay <em>calm</em>.</p><p>                But <em>oh</em>, it was so hard to. His jaw was a bit more set and tone a bit harsher than he would’ve wanted to speak to either of them, but… well, this was his family Charles was talking about. And sure, Charles was family, too, but it wasn’t the same at all. “I’m seventeen. I hardly think that counts as having enough time to ‘catch up,’ and there’s not any catching up to do. My family taught me everything I needed to know, and I don’t appreciate being called or treated like a kid. Sure, I’m not a legal adult yet, but I’d like to know of a legal adult who has saved the entire universe—that’s <em>every</em> galaxy, not just ours— from a bunch of tyrannical colonizers by <em>talking</em> to them more than<em> fighting</em> with them. I’d like to know of any adult half-human who has ever had any sort of ‘normal’ life because only being half-human seems to mean only getting things half-normal, if that. And as far as I know, I’m the only half-human in existence anyway, so I’m the only one who gets a say in what I do with my life.” He was started to get louder towards the end of it, so he cut himself off and pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes to try and calm down some.</p><p>                Count it out. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.</p><p>                In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.</p><p>                Obviously he couldn’t see it himself, but as he continued to talk himself through the moment and as Charles seemed to process what had just been said to him, the glow faded out to hover as just a blush-like line across his face where it had started to spread all across his head and chest and had started down his arms (covered by his jacket still of course).</p><p>                He was on his fifth breath before Charles spoke again, on the verge of yelling from the start of it. “Now, you listen here, young man. I know how to raise a kid, and you ain’t been raised the way you should’ve! You’re still a kid, and you should respect your elders like one, and that means you aught to listen to what we think you should be doin’! We’ve done been through this before! And- and where do you think you’re goin’?! You get back here, young man, or I’ll-“</p><p>                Steven paused from where he’d gotten up and started across the room. He was not about to be yelled at in what he could imagine was a conversation Charles had been in before. One that had ended with Gregory DeMayo leaving this same house to forever become Greg Universe. He stepped over closer to Charles, licked two fingers, and swiped them across his grandfather’s leg—walking away again before the sparkles had even disappeared. “If you want to come and <em>talk</em> to me instead of <em>yell</em> at me, go right on ahead. Until then, I’m going to my car to be <em>alone</em>.” It took everything in him to keep his voice steady and calm enough to not accidentally break half the living room. He did say it loud enough that he knew Ann would hear him as well and then hurried out of the house, taking care to shut the door instead of slam it and to be exceedingly gentle with the Dondai as he got into it and locked the doors.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If people are not expected to change- especially not by themselves- then they will not. But when they are expected to change yet given the option to do so or not... will they? </p><p>There's going to be at least one more chapter of this, but I think that might be it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Explanation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                He’d tried. He had properly met his grandparents. He had at the very least attempted to go eat dinner and spend some time with them. And he’d healed his grandfather’s injury even while they were angry with each other, so he couldn’t feel guilty over that no matter how hard his brain might try to make him feel. There was nothing for him to feel guilty for. He still did despite the fact he couldn’t justify it.</p><p>                That didn’t mean he left, though. It had been close to half an hour, but he continued to stay in the Dondai in the same place where he had been, trying to calm down and assure himself that he did the right thing. He walked away from a bad situation. He walked away from an argument that touched on some highly sensitive topics for him—an argument that could’ve cost him a relapse on his anger management and his diamond powers and maybe even worse issues. He’d even healed the person he was arguing with from an injury he had no part in! He couldn’t get himself to drive away yet, though. He wanted this to work. He really did, he just-</p><p>                He wouldn’t let himself be talked down to like that. He had a hard enough time treating himself right, and he refused to let others do it whether they had good intentions or not. He’d been talked down to for the first fourteen years of his life, and he refused to let it happen ever again.</p><p>                He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he jumped rather violently and instinctively brought up his shield at the slight knock on the passenger window, and it took longer than he would’ve liked to be able to make himself lower his arm and dissolve the shield when he saw it was Ann holding two plates of steaming hot food with two water bottles tucked into her apron pockets.</p><p>                Steven was still trying to calm the immediate reaction and slow his heartrate while he reached over, unlocked the passenger door, and opened it for her without really a second thought on it. Ann hadn’t been involved in the conversation at all, and Charles had even mentioned she hadn’t wanted him to say what he did. He supposed that was why she had been acting odd when he first got there as well. Even if it turned out she did agree with Charles, he had no way of knowing that for sure unless he asked her.</p><p>                She wordlessly handed one of the plates over to him and set the second on the dashboard before she climbed into the car, shutting the door behind herself and setting the water bottles in his cup holders before she spoke. “Nobody comes to my house for dinner and leaves without eating something unless they’re sick, even if I have to make a whole other meal.” She pulled two forks from her apron as well and passed one over to Steven.</p><p>                He was somewhat stunned. He had just gotten into an argument with her husband, but… well, like he’d remembered before. She supposedly hadn’t wanted Charles to say any of that.</p><p>                His stomach was mostly in knots, but she’d brought it out to him and clearly planned to eat her own dinner alongside him. He was still going back and forth on whether or not he wanted to be vegetarian or vegan or just eat whatever he felt like eating, so he definitely hadn’t suggested anything out of the ordinary for dinner. So even though it was one of those days where he was not too keen on eating meat, he could manage to try at least some of it, and he started doing just that without a word. It was… well, honestly, it was a little bland—both the meatloaf and the mashed potatoes—but he’d definitely had worse. Far worse if one considered some of the things Amethyst had tricked him into eating to be food. Nonetheless, it was the easiest thing to talk about.</p><p>                “Thank you. It’s good.”</p><p>                “You’re welcome. It was my grandmother’s recipe.” Dang, that meant it was made by his… great-great-grandmother. He’d never even thought out that before. Of course he’d wondered for years about the DeMayo family—basically ever since meeting Andy—but he hadn’t thought about just how far back it would go… Some line of his blood went all the way back to the beginning of humans like it did for every other human ever… It made his head spin for a moment. His mother’s side, going upwards, stopped at her. There was nobody before her.</p><p>                That was how gems worked, especially the matriarchs.</p><p>                Humans always came from each other, though. It was a continuous chain, and of course he'd thought about that fact plenty in life... but applying it to his own family? It was mind-boggling.</p><p>                He ate slow, small bites while he thought about it all as the conversation dropped off again. They ate in silence, only mildly uncomfortable, and he was only slightly surprised she finished eating before him considering he was barely paying attention.</p><p>                She did claim his attention when she spoke again, though.</p><p>                "You healed him... Charles, that is... Right?" It was a fair question. He hadn't explained any of his powers, after all—he’d only flashed his shield and started to go pink.</p><p>                Steven nodded slowly, not looking at her just yet. He couldn't if he was going to be as honest as he needed to be. "Yes... I should've asked first, but I wasn't sure if I'd be back, and I know I would've felt guilty if I had left without healing his leg."</p><p>                He still didn't look to see her expression even as she paused for a few moments. "Well... thank you. It's been hard to keep up with everything that normally takes two people, so even if you're upset with him, you've helped me just as much. Thank you, Steven."</p><p>                It was odd hearing her say his name. He couldn't put a finger on why it was odd, but it wasn't really a bad thing either. But he didn't know entirely what she thought about it all just yet. He couldn't let his guard down yet. "Well, I'm..." He almost said, "I'm glad I could help," but he didn't think that was true. He didn't feel bad for helping… He didn't feel very good for helping either. "You're welcome..."</p><p>                Silence fell again, and he set his plate on the dash, having eaten more than he wanted to already despite the fact over half the food was still on the plate with plenty more mashed potatoes gone than the meatloaf. He'd eat something more later on if he could—probably an apple or orange or banana. Something not so heavy and definitely not meat.</p><p>                As the silence stretched on longer and longer, crawling by slowly, he finally started it back up this time. "I'm not a child. I know I'm technically a minor still, but... I haven't been an actual child in years now. I..." He debated on whether to say it or not for a moment. "I had to grow up and be the one to disband the empire or I ran the risk of the diamonds relapsing and destroying everything and everyone I loved. And I know you don't know what half of that even means, but..." Take a breath.</p><p>                In. Two. Three. Four.</p><p>                Out. Two. Three. Four.</p><p>                Regroup.</p><p>                Start again. Something factual and human that he wouldn’t need to explain.</p><p>                "My diagnoses, agreed upon by my GP, psychiatrist, and therapist, are Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Complex PTSD. I don't know how much you know about any of that, but I can't... nobody can go through what I've been through and come out of it a kid. And- and sure, there could probably be a list made about fifty miles long listing everything that's wrong with—sorry, listing all of my issues—and everyone I've ever known could be blamed for some part of it, but I wouldn't take it back. The only thing that could've changed to stop all this is if I wasn't the son of Pink Diamond and Greg Universe, but then I wouldn't even be me, whether I know who I am or not." He was pulling on discussions and words from his therapist, but that was fine if it meant she'd understand. This was something he had worked so incredibly hard on for himself. There was plenty of his own identity that he was still discovering and trying to search for… but in order to do so, he also had to accept and solidify the aspects of his identity that he could not change. And while he was still in the process of getting there, eventually he wanted to believe his own words that he would not <em>want</em> those aspects to change, wouldn’t want his past to change when it was impossible. The easiest way to do that was reminding himself he wouldn’t have any of the same relationships he had if his life was different, and those were something he wouldn’t give up for the world.</p><p>                Ann took a<em> very</em> long moment to figure out how to respond to that. Her voice was softer than he’d ever heard it though he didn’t have much to go off of either. “I do know what those are, yes. Or at least well enough… I guess I must admit, I might’ve thought it was a good idea, too. Of you coming to live with us… but I knew it wasn’t something that would actually work out. Whatever we did last time would’ve gone wrong this time, and then we’d have lost you like we lost our boy… Charles is stubborn as can be, though, I tell you—DeMayo genes do that to a person. He really only meant it because he cares, but I know just about better than anyone how he gets when he gets an idea in his head.”</p><p>                He was talking again before he could stop himself. “So is that it then? He won’t give in about it?” The spike in anxiety must’ve been clear in his voice with the urgency in Ann’s response.</p><p>                “No, no, not at all. In fact, you healing him and walking out on him stumped him pretty good in there. I think he’ll come around to it all. He’s just… got some thinking to do. He’s not ever changed his mind on what we should’ve done when it came to Greg. I can’t say I did much either, but I started to yesterday. When I read his letter, when you told us he’s been successful… Steven, I didn’t ever have faith in what my son could do. Neither of us did… I don’t want us to do the same to you. Charles doesn’t either, but we thought of different ways on how to do that.” She was quiet for a moment, probably expecting him to talk… but he had nothing to say. Not at the moment anyways.</p><p>                She continued instead. “Gregory meant the world to us. From the day he was born—even before that—everything we did was to benefit him. We thought we knew all the best ways to raise him from fixing the mistakes our parents made to reading every parenting book for every age. We fancied ourselves to be pretty good parents and were sure that anytime he argued, it was just him not seeing what we saw. We thought he didn’t understand the opportunities we were making for him… I’ve thought about it a lot over the years, and I guess I finally realized he did understand the opportunities. They just weren’t the ones he wanted.” Another pause, another sigh. Steven wasn’t willing to interrupt, and despite how much a large part of him wanted to console her and suggest solutions and take on the issue himself, he didn’t let himself do that. It wasn’t his problem. The only problem he had to solve was the one between himself and his grandparents. Anything more than that was unfair. His dad could solve his own problems with his parents. Steven just had to remind himself it wasn’t his issue to fix, especially not at the expense of himself.</p><p>                He was going to need an extra session with Dr. Perez within the next week. He just knew he would.</p><p>                “Steven… what’s he like?” He focused his gaze on her properly again, confused for a moment. “What kind of person is my son like…?”</p><p>                He rubbed the back of his neck a bit. “I mean… it’d be easier if you just... got to know him, y’know?”</p><p>                Ann gave him a pleading, heartbroken sort of look that made him realize exactly what branch of the family he’d gotten his own “puppy eyes” from. Dammit. He took another deep breath but didn’t need to count it this time. “He knows more about guitars than anyone I’ve ever met. Every brand, every model- he can play and fix any of them. He’s an amazing teacher, too. He’s given lessons for years now, and he started teaching me as soon as I was big enough to hold a ukulele.” He didn’t notice it much himself, but he’d started smiling somewhat. “He taught me ukulele; electric, bass, and acoustic guitars; drums; piano. He even tried to teach me the saxophone, but it got broken from a corrupted gem attacking the house, and we didn’t bother to replace it because I sucked at it and prefer singing anyways. He can play just about anything, though, if he gets enough time with it.”</p><p>                Steven watched her face as he talked about his dad, her son, and it was a mixture of surprise and sadness. He didn’t have to guess why either emotion was present as he continued. “Dad’s always been the sort to do what he can to help others even when we never had much while I was growing up. We lived in a van, but he was still willing to help the people he could—especially his friend, Vidalia. Up until she met Yellowtail, she was a single mom and he was a single dad. I don’t remember it because I was too young, but they did a lot to help each other out. And a lot of the rest you’d just have to get to know him for, really. He’s owned and run a carwash for as long as I can remember, but in the past few years, he’s been a band manager for Sadie Killer and the Suspects and now for Sadie’s new band with her and her partner, Shep. He does that for free, though, since he can afford to after that commercial sold.”</p><p>                He went quiet to let Ann take in everything he’d said. It took a couple minutes before she said anything more. “I never knew he was so talented with music…”</p><p>                “Did you ever give him a chance to show you?”</p><p>                She opened her mouth but closed it again right after, looking mournful as she shook her head. “No… I thought it was a distraction from all the things we wanted him to do. His wrestling, his classes, preparing for college… We kept an eye on all his music, and of course we didn’t buy him an instrument because… well, we thought it was a waste of time… So no… I never gave it a chance.”</p><p>                Steven was glad, once more, that he’d taken the Dondai since typically when he stayed in a town, he walked everywhere to get in enough exercise to make up for the days that were spent just driving. It was a system that worked well most of the time, and if he ever desperately needed to get out of a place, he could just call for Lion and be rescued. Usually that only happened if he went into a panic attack or anxiety attack or flashbacks that he couldn’t bring himself out of within the confines of whatever environment he was in at the time. In this case, though, taking the Dondai had meant he had been able to stay at the house and that his next idea was an easy one to follow through on.</p><p>                “Well… if you—and Charles for that matter—would like to give it a chance now, I think it might make it easier for you and Dad to work things out.” This was something he could manage. It might’ve been meddling a little bit, but it wasn’t in a way that could hurt himself at all.</p><p>                Naturally, it confused her. “But… how could I do that? He’d never come play it for us.”</p><p>                Steven took that as a yes and wordlessly reached behind her seat, digging in the small box there for a moment before he sat back again with a tape in hand. “His first album’s right here.” He passed the tape to her as she set her empty plate on the dashboard. Steven had done the work himself to get the audio copied from one of the old CDs to a tape though he knew every word on it and every album his dad had finished. He didn’t listen to the one dedicated to his mom, but he did still have it.</p><p>                Ann stared at the tape’s label, and he could see her mouthing out “Space Train to the Cosmos” before she looked back at him again. He turned on the car and accepted the tape back from her, switching it out with the last one he’d been working on. He considered for a moment as the first song started before he started fast-forwarding it, voice quiet as he explained without her asking. “The third song is the one he was singing when he met Rose… It’s also the one that got turned into a burger jingle.” He added the second part on with a bit more enthusiasm before he pressed play. He had to fast-forward and press play once more before he was right before the beginning of it, not wanting to pass it up.</p><p>                He kept the volume moderately low since he was positive she was not used to rock, and he really wanted her to at least listen to it even if she ended up not liking it. He watched her face for reactions throughout the song and promptly stopped the tape once it was over. She’d been paying so much attention to the song that she didn’t actually do much except start to cry, specifically at the line “infinite space is my only home.” Considering his home was a van because he'd run from his first one? That made sense. Steven passed her the travel package of tissues he kept in the center console and waited until she was calm enough to speak.</p><p>                “I… I mean, I can’t say it was my kind of music, but- but he sounds so… <em>happy</em> doing it, I-“ Ann stopped to take another shaky breath. Steven wanted to do or say more, but he knew he shouldn’t and kept himself from it. He had more than enough of his own problems, and this was something Ann and Charles both had to work through either on their own or together or hell, with a therapist if either of them would do it.  “I need… I need to get Charles to listen to this, he… Oh, I don’t know if I ever once heard Gregory that happy in his life. It’s-“ Another pause, another breath, another tissue. She took a bit longer this time before she lifted her chin up and picked up the dirty plates, stacking his on top since it still held food on it. “I’m going to talk to him, Steven. I’d love if you gave us another chance. Right now, though… I’m going to get through that thick skull of his if it’s the last thing I do. This has gone on far too long.”</p><p>                Steven hesitated, considering his options. He still wanted this to work. He just couldn’t help it. If there was some way it would be fine and he could have a human family besides just his dad and Andy (without counting his future-in-laws—that “not now” had gradually gone from one of the worst things he’d ever heard to one of the best as an affirmation that Connie did indeed love him enough to marry him, just… at a sensible time and in a sensible manner), he wanted to take the chances needed for it. “Maybe… Saturday morning brunch? We could go out to eat somewhere. My girlfriend can come with, too, since we always have a Saturday morning date every week.” It would give them all time to breathe and calm down, it would be out in public where no fighting could break out, and he absolutely refused to <em>ask</em> if Connie could join them. He didn't want to do this alone anymore when it kept turning out to be too much for him to handle. Plus, they always had their date, and she had already mentioned wanting to meet them if it went well. He’d make up for the lost alone time somehow.</p><p>                Ann nodded after a moment. “I think that will work for the best. It’s been months since Charles has been out of the house with that broken leg of his, so I doubt it’d be hard to get him to come with.”</p><p>                And with that, the plans were made in a few more words to set an exact time and place. Steven said goodbye to Ann and waited until she was inside the house before he left. He wasted no time in getting to the hotel and in his room before he promptly called the first number he clicked on from his “Urgent” list (it ended up being Amethyst to little surprise since her name was at the top of every list). Much like the day before, it took a while to get it all out of his system, but that was the crucial detail. <em>He was getting it out of his system</em>. He wasn’t bottling it all up anymore. It was a constant battle with himself to try and believe he wasn’t a burden and that he was allowed to and <em>should</em> talk about his problems. And as expected, it left him completely exhausted to where he almost couldn’t get his phone plugged in before he just slept in his normal clothes, minus his jacket and shoes.  It had been such a stressful day, but he reminded himself that he was fine in the end. He would be fine somehow.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm sorry this took longer than I expected it would!! This chapter definitely did NOT want to write itself like the first two did (and the next one for that matter). Yes, you read that correctly. There will be another chapter which is why this one is the shortest so far despite taking the longest. The breaks would've been awkward if I didn't split the chapter where this one ended, but I'm already at least a quarter of the way done with chapter four which means it hopefully won't take as long! </p><p>Also, I haven't really said it yet because I forgot, but THANK YOU for reading this!! It's gotten way more interaction than I ever would've expected, and it makes me so happy that people are enjoying my take on these events. I'm having so much fun writing it, so seeing other people like it just thrills me to no end.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Conversation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                The only thing keeping him in his seat was his girlfriend’s warm, familiar, calloused hand in his with their interlocked fingers resting on his leg because he’d been driving her nuts bouncing it out of nerves. It was just about nine, and he’d been up since around five-thirty. Connie had been as well since she’d stayed the night with him (technically they had beds of their own but they definitely fell asleep curled up together in his bed like they had at just about every sleepover they’d had since they were children), but while she was gradually perking up more with each sip of her coffee, Steven didn’t dare order any when he was already so anxious about the meeting ahead of them. It was the reason they’d ended up getting to the diner half an hour early, after all.</p><p>                It soothed him just enough each time she wordlessly squeezed his hand to remind him that she was there, she wouldn’t be leaving, and they would do this together just like they had tackled so many other things in life so far. Connie knew exactly when he needed the reassurance, and he was beyond grateful for her once more. Everything came so easily with her even when it didn’t, and while that failed to make any logical sense, it made cosmic sense. It had really been no surprise he’d been an idiot and- no. No. Rephrase. He was not an idiot and proposing to Connie was not an idiotic move. It was desperate and far too premature and under planned, but it was not stupid.</p><p>                “Is that them?” Her question and another gentle squeeze of his hand to check if he was disassociating pulled him from his thoughts as he looked towards the parking lot outside. It was a pretty full lot (and a very full restaurant for that matter), but a car had just pulled into an accessibility spot right outside. There was no tint on the windows, so it was easy to see his grandparents through the panes of glass between them. Charles had come… that was a good first sign, right?</p><p>                “Yeah, that’s them.” It was his turn to hold her hand tighter though it was accidental from his nerves skyrocketing as they climbed out of the car.</p><p>                “Your dad really looks like both of them. Your jawline and face shape definitely come from strong genetics from your grandmother’s side. And the shape of your brow from your grandfather’s side. Also, I’m pretty sure the only reason your dad doesn’t need glasses is from you having to heal him every now and then since both his parents wear them.” He tried his best to pay more attention than needed to the basic analysis Connie gave as she glanced over towards the elderly couple repeatedly rather than outright staring. He knew she was mentioning whatever came to mind to help him ground himself, and it did help a bit. Though he wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact he’d only healed Charles’s leg and not everything that might be considered an ailment. Steven had definitely not been trying to heal anymore than the leg, so</p><p>                He waved vaguely towards Ann once she and Charles got into the restaurant to catch her attention and tried to be calm, taking care to not hold Connie’s hand too tight so he wouldn’t hurt her on accident. Most of the time, it wasn’t something he had to think about, but he tried his best to think of it when he was tense. Since they were in a booth, it would’ve been unnecessarily difficult for them to stand and greet his grandparents, so he just waited as they made their way over to the table. Ann was smiling politely and seemed genuinely happy to see them there.</p><p>                “Good morning, Steven. And hello, there! I take it you’re Steven’s girlfriend?”</p><p>                He was so grateful, as always, that Connie had been able to take up the role of friendly introductions that he used to fill. She promptly extended her free hand towards them with a bright smile on her face. “Yes, Ma’am. It’s nice to meet you! Connie Maheswaran.” Ann shook Connie’s offered hand with her smile widening.</p><p>                “Ann DeMayo, and this is my husband Charles,” she introduced, urging her husband to step forward and shake Connie’s hand as well. Steven had yet to properly look at Charles yet, not wanting to know if he was still angry or whatever his mood might be, but he promptly did once a second hand met Connie’s. At least from what Steven could tell, Charles didn’t <em>seem</em> angry or upset. Not at the moment anyways.</p><p>                Once the handshake was finished, Ann ushered Charles into taking the window seat across from Connie, and Steven was pretty sure it was her way of preventing her husband from leaving if something went wrong. It could’ve been a good idea for himself to be trapped in the booth as well if not for the claustrophobia he’d developed after his corruption (well, really before then but he didn’t acknowledge until after). That would’ve just made him more panicked and would’ve generally been a bad idea for the person with magical powers to be the one in a confined space.</p><p>                The waiter who had brought Connie her cup of coffee had noticed the table was now full, so he was over within seconds of Ann sitting down with four menus in his hands. “Good mornin’, folks! Here’s your menus. What can I get you all to drink?”</p><p>                His grandparents both got coffee while Connie ordered a second, but Steven just went with a glass of ice water and started looking over the menu though he regretted having to let go of Connie’s hand to do so. He was still not comfortable eating meat at the moment and doubted he would be for a good while from how it came in long spells on whether or not he’d be vegetarian or eat whatever. Thankfully, everyone at the table was busy with their menus to figure out what they wanted before the waiter returned. After a few moments, he found what seemed to be the best option for him, but…</p><p>                “Would anyone want my bacon or sausage if I get this platter?” He glanced up and around at them, and Connie seemed to be waiting for either of his grandparents to reply first since she usually did accept his bacon if it was in his meal or she’d encourage him to ask for a substitute. He just worried he wouldn’t be able to eat it all if he did get a substitute.</p><p>                Charles looked up first. “You don’t want it? Some meat in your meals is good for you.” He should’ve expected that sort of response, really. It was a similar one to Uncle Andy’s when he found out Steven had gone vegetarian. He figured he should be honest, though.</p><p>                “I’m… sort of sometimes a vegetarian? I’m undecided on it still.” The silence felt so much longer than it was, especially considering the chatter throughout the restaurant around them.</p><p>                It was Charles who answered first again, surprisingly. At least he seemed to have calmed down from the argument before. Either that or he wanted to save face in public. “Oh. Well, you… you could’ve said something about the meatloaf and I’m sure Ann would’ve made something different.”</p><p>                “No, no, that was fine. I wanted to try her meatloaf.” It was true even if he’d not eaten most of it. Ann pursed her lips a bit before she chipped in as well.</p><p>                “Well, be sure to tell me next time if you’d rather I make my usual or something you can eat, okay? My sister’s been a vegetarian for almost fifty years—I know it can be an important choice for someone to make.” She had a sister? Huh… It hadn’t occurred to Steven that there would likely be more extended family than his grandfather’s siblings that he’d heard about vaguely from Andy before. That made sense—Andy had told him much more about the DeMayo side and his own mother’s side.</p><p>                “Oh. Okay.” After a gentle smile from Ann, she looked back at her menu as did Charles. Steven went to look at his own once more before he remembered why he’d looked up from it in the first place. “Would either of you want it, though?”</p><p>                Charles shook his head, and Ann followed it up with a simple, “no thank you,” which was fine. Connie was his savior then, as usual.</p><p>                “I’ll take some extra bacon. If I don’t eat it, I can take it home to Dad.” Steven nodded and smiled at her. Mr. Maheswaran had grown rather fond of getting diner-style bacon at least once a month or so for free and in a way where his wife didn’t have to know. Dr. Maheswaran wasn’t as strict about the family diet with her husband as she was with Connie (when she was at home at least—she’d recognized it was no longer fair to try and control her teenage daughter’s dietary choices outside of the house and had lessened the rules within the house as well), but it made things more fun for them if Connie was sneaking it to her dad like contraband.</p><p>                Naturally, with that resolved, everyone looked back at their menus again for a moment before Ann’s head suddenly shot back up with a look of confusion on her face. “Hang on… Connie, how did you get here? Steven said you both do this every weekend—how in the world do you manage to make those drives all the time?” It was a question that threw off both Connie and Steven. They were both used to Beach City Logic where if someone didn’t understand something that happened—especially when it involved the gems or Steven—that it was assumed magical in origin and didn’t need explanation. Connie looked at him, not wanting to talk about Lion if he didn’t want her to.</p><p>                He considered a moment before nodding. They already knew he was half-gem, even if they didn’t quite understand what that meant. They’d seen his shield and gem. They knew vaguely that he’d toppled an intergalactic dictatorship before he was even fifteen. Was it really that much more to say he had a magic pet?</p><p>                “I don’t actually have a license just yet, Ma’am. Steven—well, I guess you could say Steven and I, really—we have a pet lion who was resurrected by Steven’s mom a long time ago which gave him magical abilities including creating portals to be able to teleport. So I teleport with him whenever I’m visiting Steven.” The nonchalant manner she had while talking about it utterly amazed Steven. Stars, he loved her, and he was positive the look he was giving her showed just how much he did. That was one thing he didn’t care about, though. Anyone and everyone could see how much he loved Connie in every way possible. They were best friends, they were dating, and they were very well positive they were soulmates. Or at least Steven did considering he believed in soulmates while Connie wasn’t sure she believed the same, but he wouldn’t have expected anything different.</p><p>                If he’d been paying attention to anything but his girlfriend, he’d have noticed the somewhat funny expressions his grandparents both had while trying to process the information they’d just been given, but he kept his eyes on Connie until Charles spoke up again finally, the surprise leaking into his voice.</p><p>                “Well, I suppose that’s one way of doing it. It sounds like it makes long-distance a little easier…”</p><p>                “Even if we didn’t have Lion, I’m sure we could find some method of gem travel that would make it possible. It’s great to be able to see Lion every week, too, though. Oh- that’s his name, by the way.”</p><p>                “Because Steven names everything after what’s right in front of his face,” Connie teased lightly. He knew it was to try and help him calm down a bit more since he was still all keyed up. He knew it, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t work.</p><p>                “Hey, I happen to be great at naming things. A band name I came up with is known nationwide!”</p><p>                “Lion, Volleyball, Pumpkin-“</p><p>                “Peridot and Lapis named her.”</p><p>                “-Together Breakfast, Watermelon Steven, Cactus Steven, Cat Steven-“</p><p>                “Hey, Garnet named Cat Steven, and she loves her name.”</p><p>                “Who do you think Garnet picked that up from?” He had no retort for that which meant it was time to retaliate by booping her nose instead. She laughed while she returned the gesture to have the last “strike” in their game of teasing, claiming her win.</p><p>                It was only as he turned from grinning at her to looking at his menu again that he remembered they had an audience. He promptly ignored the blush that arose, burying his nose in the menu despite the fact he’d already decided what he wanted.  Thankfully, Connie was significantly less embarrassed about it than he was. They really had switched roles in terms of who was more outgoing, hadn’t they? Connie remained an introvert just as he was still very much an extravert (music and frequent calls to anyone who had the time kept him fueled and from spiraling while he was driving so much), but he’d taken the position of being reserved and easily embarrassed while she had learned more than enough confidence in herself to talk to new people and be herself in public. Hell, as it was, he peaked over his menu to check the reactions of his grandparents. Charles seemed vaguely amused while Ann was smiling from their interactions. He still planned to hide until his face returned to its normal color, but of course that was when the waiter returned. They all placed their orders and handed back their menus once the drinks had been set down, and thankfully the conversation picked back up where it had been.</p><p>                “So you ride this lion? Where is he now?” The phrasing made it seem like she doubted them, but there wasn’t really any hint of that in her voice or expression. Steven promptly pulled out his phone and started to look for a good picture as he replied.</p><p>                “He’s back at the hotel… most likely. Sometimes he wanders off, but he knows when we’re calling for him no matter where he is.” He still wondered if that was something Lars would eventually have to face if he developed the same powers as Lion. “If he is there, he’s either sleeping or has somehow found some other magical lizard to eat.”</p><p>                “Please don’t let it be another one full of feathers if it is,” Connie murmured which at least got another smile to Steven’s face. He was sure, as his face reacted to the comment, that she had intended that and appreciated it. He finally found a good photo (he needed to find a way to jump backwards in them as his trip photos made it hard to find any of his usual pictures) and passed his phone over to Ann and Charles.</p><p>                “Pretty obvious which one is Lion. The cat sleeping on his head is Cat Steven. She loves using him as a pillow.”</p><p>                “Who doesn’t?” Connie remarked.</p><p>                “Me because I’ll end up in his head.”</p><p>                “Fair point.”</p><p>                He noticed the odd look from Charles, but he didn’t elaborate this time. The world in Lion’s mane and Lars’s hair was one that few knew about, and he intended to keep it that way. Hell, only Connie knew he sometimes went in there and sealed himself in a bubble, using smaller bubbles to bring fresh air into his own so he could have a place where he was genuinely alone for periods of time if he needed to think. He always told her when he was going in for those occasions so she could keep an eye on the situation and make sure he was bringing in enough air for himself.</p><p>                Instead, Connie shifted the conversation by beginning to talk more about some of Lion’s sillier moments, basically describing him as one would a house cat. Steven accepted his phone back and listened to his girlfriend’s stories. He knew them all, of course, but that just meant he could focus more on her and the way she told it. As he’d expected and hoped for, he’d calmed down a lot because of her. If he had to deal with the situation on his own, let alone lead the conversation, he’d have likely already left.</p><p>                But thankfully from there… breakfast was nice. Conversation stayed light and focused on learning about each other in little ways, and every time Steven grew more anxious, he had Connie there to take her hand and calm himself down with the simple, comfortable contact. He knew, as they slowly finished their meals one by one, that they had to discuss the argument. He couldn’t leave without talking things through with Charles. He <em>really</em> did not want anyone overhearing it, though.</p><p>                “Is there a park or anything like that nearby? I’d like to be able to talk about what happened, but… not here.”</p><p>                “We could go back to the house?” Ann suggested, but Steven’s answer was quick.</p><p>                “I’d really rather we don’t… Besides, it’s nice out today.”</p><p>                Thankfully and surprisingly, Charles answered first. “We can lead the way there if you can drive behind us to follow. I could use some sun after being cooped up with that broken leg.”</p><p>                "I can keep up." And if not, they could use a GPS to find out where in town it was. Ann nodded as well then, and it meant leaving was just down to waiting on the check. Steven took it and paid the whole thing (amid protests from his grandparents), adding on a hefty tip for their great service before he stood and held out a hand to Connie to help her slide out of the booth. He doubted she needed any help, but it was an easy excuse to hold her hand. Did he need an excuse? No, she's his girlfriend. Was it sometimes fun to find an excuse anyways? Yes, yes it was. And it was beyond worth it at the grin she gave him while she accepted it. It took a little longer for Ann and Charles to be up and out of the booth, but none of them were in any hurry even as they strolled out of the diner and to their respective cars.</p><p> </p><p>                The drive to the park was pretty short which was good on his attention span and nerves, but it left him no real time to plan what he wanted to say or even start with. Connie kept him talking, though, knowing he’d work through it faster if he vocalized everything. It helped somewhat, but he still went over things in his head more while he led the way to an area of the park with picnic tables that was away from the kids playing all over the swingset. He started talking before they’d even sat down, wanting to be sure he got to say his piece.</p><p>                “I’d like to say this once and be very clear about it.” He took his own seat, incredibly appreciative of Connie’s hand intertwined with his once more. He’d asked in the car for her to only intervene if she could explain his point better than he could or if things started to get heated. This genuinely was his issue, and he wanted to be the one to work it out and accept help for it if he needed it. “I am not my dad.” He could feel the emphasis he put on each word and tried his best to keep his tone steady and firm. He <em>really </em>did not think he’d be able to do this without Connie. “I spent the first fourteen years of my life—heck, more like sixteen if you count Spinel—being mistaken for and referred to as my mom, and that did a lot of damage to my relationship to her and my relationship with myself. I refuse to let the same thing happen here. I am not your son. I am not Greg. His mistakes are not mine, and I will not be treated like they are.” The words came easier once he was speaking them, and it grew clearer to him that was the main issue he had. That was why he’d gotten so angry at Charles.</p><p>                His grandparents took a moment to listen and process the words, and Charles squinted a bit as he seemed to struggle get the words right in his head first. “You’re right. You’re not Gregory… I won’t lie. I still think you aught to move in with us and graduate to high school and go to college. But I don’t got any way of making you do that, so I apologize for trying to make you.”</p><p>                Steven contemplated a moment. Was it a good apology? No. Far from it. It was more of an admission of defeat, really… but it was better than arguing. Ann nudged her husband, though, urging him to continue.</p><p>                “And… I’m sorry for makin’ you feel like we thought you were your father. I suppose I did treat you like that.” Another nudge. He gave her a bit of an irritated look but continued. “And thanks for healing my leg up. No clue how in the Sam Hill you did it, but… thanks.” It was clear the two of them had discussed what Charles needed to say beforehand, and Steven wished he could know how much of it was genuine and how much of it was forced. Charles kept the same tone throughout, though.</p><p>                Steven rubbed the back of his neck a bit and felt (and probably looked) sheepish. “It’s sort of a main power of mine. Connie used to need glasses, but I healed her eyes on accident when we were kids. But I’m sorry I didn’t ask before doing it. I know it can be kind of jarring, especially if you don’t expect it…” He could feel Connie’s eyes on him, and he knew she was giving him The Look for apologizing for something good he’d done. He felt it was justified this time, though, even if he was the only one.</p><p>                Proof that he was the only one was the quirked eyebrow Charles gave him. “Not many people would apologize for helping someone, y’know.” Steven just gave him shrug.</p><p>                Ann decided to chime in finally after a moment of quiet. “I’m sorry for treating you like Greg, too, Steven… You just look so much like him… But I’ll try to be better about it.”</p><p>                Steven nodded a bit, but he still felt so off. It… it felt too simple. It felt way, <em>way</em> too simple and easy. Connie seemed to think so, too, though.</p><p>                “This really is something important to keep in mind. It was incredibly harmful to Steven’s mental health to be compared to and thought of as his mom so often.” She squeezed his hand a bit when she mentioned his mom, and he was sure it was to remind him she was there for him. “If you’d ever be interested in reading more on the topic to avoid doing it on accident, my mom—she’s a doctor—has sources she’s found and given to the gems. They helped a lot in understanding harmful behaviors.”</p><p>                Steven was tense as he watched their faces, and they seemed mostly stunned.</p><p>                “Oh… Oh, that should be fine, then.” He wasn’t surprised it was Ann who answered though he was somewhat disappointed about her tone. She seemed deflated, almost like she expected she wouldn’t have to try very hard to make the accommodation she’d just promised or that she’d said it to placate the situation. He hoped it was neither of those things. But, well… Connie was right, and it was better to be safe than sorry. And Steven knew he’d just have to stand firm over it. He was himself, and he refused to be compared to anyone anymore. Not even to his old self.</p><p>                The rest of the visit from there went smooth enough. It was obvious both Ann and Charles had work to do on themselves in order to work on having a relationship with their grandson, let alone with their son. But there was time at hand, and it was never too late to change as long as they were willing to. He hoped after twenty years that this would finally be the time they start trying. </p><p> </p><p>                Steven went to bed that night in Connie's arms once again after some slight begging to her mom and a promise that she'd return home first thing in the morning since they already had plans the following day. And as he laid in her arms with her in his with sleep slowly working to claim him, he knew he'd figured out another piece of his life.</p><p>                His human family was just as messed up as his gem family. And that was okay. There would be a lot to get through and to learn about on all sides, but... he was willing to try for as long as they were. The best part about it this time, though? He knew he was only responsible for himself. His words and his actions. And he'd find some way to be okay with whatever family he had after that.</p><p> </p><p>                Over the next three or so years of his roadtrip, he visited Ann and Charles eleven more times with plans to continue visiting every so often still. The first couple had been planned in advance because he hadn't wanted to disrupt their routine without warning, and he'd quickly learned that planning his visits ended in disaster. They were the sort of people who micromanaged every little detail when they were given the opportunity, and Steven was at a point in his life where he needed a good, healthy balance between structure and spontaneity. Heck, one of his best adventures where he made the best friends of anywhere during his trip had been randomly deciding to work a part-time job over the summer in a small town in Oregon. So after those first two visits, he made the rest of his visits by constructing a basic plan for himself then showing up with little to no notice. He could tell it was jarring for the elderly couple, but they seemed to grow accustomed to it before too long.</p><p>                Even with the chaos and hard times his visits could cause for those involved, he kept up with them when he could to put in the effort to help it work out. And maybe, just maybe, they were learning to treat other people and themselves just a little bit better each time he stopped by.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so, SO much for reading this everyone!!! It's been an absolute pleasure to write it for you all, and I don't know if I've ever felt more love for my writing. It's been incredible. &lt;3 </p><p>I have so many ideas for more SU fics, and I hope I can keep up the momentum!</p>
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